“You gotta be blind not to see (Bill Parcells) had it on. That’s what this whole game’s about, to strive for what he has. If your goal isn’t to win that championship ring, you don’t need to be in the league.”KEVIN MAWAE

THERE is no better way for a champion coach like Bill Parcells to ring in the new year and ring out the old year, all the old years since Super Bowl III, really, than to wear his Super Bowl XXV ring to work yesterday.

It was the second ring he won, with his beloved 1990 Giants, on a glorious Sunday night in Tampa when he watched Scott Norwood’s 47-yard field goal fly wide right, and it shined from his right hand and illuminated the faces of wide-eyed Jets, most of whom have only dreamed of a piece of jewelry like this.

Parcells mentioned nothing about the ring he had kept in storage all season outside Weeb Ewbank Hall, and he didn’t have to.

It was his way of letting his Jets know that no matter how much of a Happy New Year they enjoyed last night, they haven’t enjoyed a truly Happy New Year until they have won a Super Bowl championship and the ring they can cherish the rest of their lives. His way of announcing: I want to win NOW. Not tomorrow. NOW.

Parcells predictably downplayed it, and joked that he might wear it every once in a while to recruit a player. But he once wrote this in a book: “As I tell my players, ‘This game can make you wealthy; it can make you famous. It can give you a lot of things, but it can’t give you a championship. You’ve got to earn that.'”

Over the course of the next 30 days, the Jets will try with great desperation to earn the right to capture their Hope diamond. There is a game Jan. 10 at Giants Stadium and if all goes well there will be a game Jan. 17, probably in Denver, and there just might be a game Jan. 31 in Miami.

Happy New Year! Ring in the new and ring out the old.

Old warhorse Keith Byars has been chasing a ring like that since he came into the league in 1986. That was the year Parcells earned his first Super Bowl ring. Byars was heartbroken when he lost Super Bowl XXXI with Parcells and the Patriots. He is 35 years old. He knows time is running out on him. No one recognizes how precious that ring is more than him.

“It’s probably one of the few pieces – probably THE only piece of jewelry there is – that you can’t buy,” Byars said. “You see expensive diamonds and gold and platinum the average person can’t buy, but they can still dream about it if they hit Lotto. But a Super Bowl ring you can’t buy. All you can do is earn it. The team who endures the longest and best is gonna come out on top and they get one at the end. They only give out one a year. If you’re fortunate to be on that team to get it, you’ve got something very special. The only reason I’m still playing is to get that ring.”

It has forever remained Parcells’ obession. The future is now for him every single year, especially now, when the siren call of retirement gets louder.

“He’s got enough fingers for another one,” Byars said.

Mo Lewis was a rookie in 1991 when the Jets lost a wild-card playoff game in Houston. This will be his first trip back to the postseason. He was absolutely mesmerized by the ring on Parcells’ finger, because Bruce Coslet didn’t have one, and Pete Carroll didn’t have one and Rich Kotite didn’t have one.

Lewis smiled when someone asked whether he had noticed the ring and his eyes opened wide and he swung his head from side to side and told of how he followed every move of the champion coach’s right hand.

“Like a little puppy I was moving like he was moving,” Lewis said. His dear wife Christy will love this. “Take my wedding ring off and put that on!”‘ Lewis said, before immediately adding, “No, I’m just playing.”

Another camera crew came by and wanted to know what Lewis thought of the ring. “I want one,” Lewis began. “I want two! I want three! I want four! I want ’em all!”

Jumbo Elliott will be 33 in April. He won a Super Bowl ring with Parcells the night Norwood went wide right. Elliott dominated Bruce Smith that night.

“The last few years I’ve worn it a lot more,” Jumbo said. He noticed that ex-Giant, ex-Jet teammate William Roberts always wore his two rings.

“It’s a good reminder,” Jumbo said. “It’s always good to have a bigger goal.”

Not every Jet noticed the ring, but ex-Seahawk Kevin Mawae did. “You gotta be blind not to see he had it on,” Mawae said. “That’s what this whole game’s about, to strive for what he has. If your goal isn’t to win that championship ring, you don’t need to be in the league. You don’t deserve to be in this league. It means you’re in here just to collect paychecks.”

Parcells and his players have bonded, and never was that more evident than yesterday when team MVP Vinny Testaverde got up to speak. “He said he had a little film presentation for the team,” Jumbo said. Testaverde began talking about his career and what can happen to you if you’re not careful, and then he put on the clip. It was Parcells’ singing “Groovin'” on that new Tostitos commercial.

Wayne Chrebet vowed never to let Parcells hear the end of it. “He can never bust me about anything,” Chrebet said. “I thought I had him with the Cadillac commercials. It’s all over now.”

It used to be the Jets drove their fans to drink. New York toasted the Jets last night instead.

Every New Year’s Eve you would make a resolution never to let the Jets affect your life like that again, even though you knew you couldn’t help yourself.

Last night you didn’t need to make that resolution.

Happy New Year!

Every New Year’s Eve you couldn’t wait to sing Auld Lang to the Same Old Jets.

Today you can wear the champions cap you bought at Modell’s and toast the AFC East Division champions.

Happy New Year!

Every New Year’s Eve, because you loved football, you planned your weekend around the wild-card weekend, and wondered why your team always had to be home watching it too.

Today you can plan your weekend around the wild-card weekend knowing your Jets will be waiting in ambush for the Jaguars, Bills or Dolphins.

Happy New Year!

“We got a little thing on the wall, if you want to be Super Bowl champions you gotta get in the picture in that little frame,” Byars said. “Right now we’ve got an empty frame.”

And most of the Jets have 10 empty fingers.

“To play this game as long as I have and to not be Super Bowl champion,” Byars said, “that would be something I’ll always look back with some regrets. It took me 11 years to get to one Super Bowl. I don’t have 11 more.”